Dr Record presented a petition with 600 doctors' decisions

Dr Christopher Record, a consultant physician in liver disease at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, wants to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking too much.

He would like the labels to have details about how many alcoholic units there are in drinks and the safe limits for men and women.

Dr Record said: "I feel that there is a great deal of public ignorance concerning the safe limits for alcohol consumption and also for knowing what the products actually contain.

"I feel that the public have the right to this information and if they have it readily available in an easily understandable fashion then they can adjust their alcohol consumption and make a proper choice about what they should do."

Dr Record presented a petition with 600 doctors signatures to Newcastle MPs Jim Cousins, Nick Brown and Doug Henderson on Friday.

The petition aims to persuade the Government to take on board the idea for the labels.

Dr Record said the proposed wording would show how many units of alcohol a product contained, and that drinking more than 14 units per week for women and 21 a week for men could damage their health.

He said: "Drinking within the safe limits is perfectly safe. It is only when patients drink more than the safe limits that they can damage their health."